Opinion Democratic governors must step into the breach
To play defense, Democrats should go on offense against Trump.
But defenders of truth, competent governance and democracy cannot simply say, “We told you so.” There is much work to be done.
The positive news: Governors are constitutionally empowered and morally obligated to check the federal government and fill the gaps where the federal government has abandoned vulnerable people. They will be the last line of defense against an irresponsible and reckless Trump administration.
Fortunately, an extraordinary batch of Democratic governors including Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Maura Healey of Massachusetts appear ready to both protect their residents from a reckless administration and offer an alternative vision that benefits average Americans.
Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, told the New York Times, “States in our system have a lot of power — we’re entrusted with protecting people, and we’re going to do it.” He added, “They can expect that we’re going to show up every single time when they try to run over the American people.”
For starters, Trump and his grab bag of anti-science crackpots have declared war on medicine. His pick for secretary of defense doesn’t appear to believe in germs, his HHS pick doesn’t believe in vaccines, and none of his picks want to protect women from life-endangering forced birth laws.
Democratic governors can do plenty: stockpile vaccines and abortion medication, offer medical school students from red states a transfer to their schools, loosen rules for telemedicine, ease requirements to license doctors accredited elsewhere, reiterate vaccine requirements for schoolchildren (and fund free vaccine programs for vulnerable communities), expand their own health departments and pool resources to fund medical research. In short, they can develop an alternative model of responsible health-care governance.
Democratic governors need not stop there. If and when the federal government starts to roll back overtime and worker safety rules, governors can maintain pro-worker standards under state law. As they did in the first Trump administration, they can defend the environment by bringing a steady stream of litigation to protect air, water and natural resources. (The Times reports that Democracy Forward, a legal group that formed after Mr. Trump won in 2016, has built a multimillion-dollar war chest and marshaled more than 800 lawyers to press a full-throated legal response across a wide range of issues.)
On other fronts, they can sue to enforce consumer protection rules or challenge coercive action depriving states of federal funds. (States filed roughly 160 suits against the first Trump administration.) Bob Ferguson, Washington’s Democratic attorney general and governor-elect, recently said that, according to Associated Press, “offices of Democratic attorneys general have been in touch for months to talk about how to push back against Trump’s policies.” They also can maintain strict gun safety regulations, bring suits against gun manufacturers and fund research on gun violence.
Aside from erecting a bulwark against dangerous federal action, these governors can also go on offense. They can expand apprenticeship programs and copy Shapiro’s initiative of eliminating unnecessary college degree requirements for state jobs. Going further, they can sue private employers if excessive college education requirements disproportionately harm certain groups.
To promote democracy, they can offer enhanced civics education, public media literacy programs and public service requirements for high school and college graduates. And, as leading legal minds have been arguing for some time, they can creatively expand multistate compacts on everything from “social services delivery; child placement; education policy; emergency and disaster assistance; corrections, law enforcement, and supervision; professional licensing; water allocation; land use planning; environmental protection and natural resources management; and transportation and urban infrastructure management.” A new entity, Governors Safeguarding Democracy, may be just the vehicle to facilitate this activity.
Governors can also lead the battle against disinformation by educating the public about the positive impact of Democratic governance. Governors must continually tout their efforts to make life easier for ordinary Americans. The new media environment requires they personally reach audiences who normally do not consume political news (e.g., networks and chat groups for parents). Put differently, they must be nonstop promoters of good governance to residents who do not follow legacy media.
Governors likewise can educate the public about daily harm caused by Trump policies. In contrast to the right-wing disinformation machine (e.g., “Democrats favor post-birth abortion”), Democratic governors can truthfully highlight how Republicans endanger children’s health and safety. “They are a danger to your kids” will be no exaggeration when Republicans deprive children of vaccines and cutting-edge medicine, increase child poverty (by giving tax cuts for billionaires instead of working parents) and promote irresponsible gun laws. Democrats must ensure voters know the stories of victims hurt by anti-family, anti-child and anti-life MAGA policies.
Whether on policy or politics, Democratic governors must act in tandem to lead the Trump resistance. In turn, activists can help elevate their accomplishments and come down like a ton of bricks on Trump enablers, as they did against Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D). Trump’s embrace of loony-tune nominees and grandiose, scary plans leaves him open to attack from arguably the most adroit politicians — Democratic governors.
Post Opinions wants to know: If you’re a federal employee, how are you thinking about your job and the changes that the next administration may bring? What do you think government could be doing better? Share your thoughts with us and they may be published as letters to the editor.
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